Boleyn Quotes

Song


When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Sir Thomas Wyatt has been credited with introducing the Petrarchan sonnet into the English language. Wyatt's father had been one of Henry VII's Privy Councilors and remained a trusted adviser when Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509. Wyatt followed his father to court, but it seems the young poet may have fallen in love with the king's mistress, Anne Boleyn. Their acquaintance is certain, although whether or not the two actually shared a romantic relationship remains unknown. But in his poetry, Wyatt called his mistress Anna and there do seem to be correspondences. For instance, this poem might well have been written about the King's claim on Anne Boleyn: ~ Christina Rossetti

I remembered riding in the barge with Queen Katherine and how everyone had pulled off their hats as we went by and the women curtsied, and the children kissed their hands and waved. There had been a trust that the king was wise and strong and that the queen was beautiful and good and that nothing could go wrong. But Anne and the Boleyn ambition had opened a great crack in that unity and now everyone could see into the void. They could see now that the king was no better than some paltry little mayor of a fat little town, who wanted nothing more than to feather his own nest, and that he was married to a woman who knew desire, ambition and greed and longed for satisfaction. If ~ Philippa Gregory

To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus, receive my soul. ~ Anne Boleyn

She smiled an empty bitter smile that did not reach her eyes, 'Do you think it can be worse than this? I cannot be charged with treason, I am the Queen of England, I am England. I cannot be divorced, I am the wife of the King. He has run mad this spring and he will recover by autumn. And all I have to do is get through this summer.'
'The Boleyn summer,' I said. ~ Philippa Gregory

Jane," I said quietly.
She opened her eyes, she had been far away in prayer.
"Yes, Mary? Forgive me, I was praying."
"If you go on flirting with the king with those sickly little smiles, one of us Boleyns is going to scratch your eyes out. ~ Philippa Gregory

And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. ~ Anne Boleyn

The first Elizabeth film was an absolute travesty historically. It really was sloppy. Things like 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and 'The Tudors,' people's perception is distorted because of these. It matters to me as a historian, because I spend my life trying to get it right. ~ Alison Weir

The whore or the saint: these seemed to be the prototypes set up by the Church's historic misogyny. But was there no alternative model to follow?

Yes, for Anne had seen for herself that it was possible to be an independent thinker, set free from the pattern of sinful Eve or patient Griselda. She had been in the company of clever, strong-willed women like the Regent Margaret of Austria and Margaret of Navarre. The influence of evangelism had enabled women of character to take an alternative path, one that offered Anne Boleyn a different future. ~ Joanna Denny

I think you underestimate how closely I studied the life of Anne Boleyn. Don't be fooled by my Byzantine-loving exterior. ~ Dahlia Adler

I feel very strongly that history has mostly been written by men, and even when it is not prejudiced against women it is dominated by a male perspective and male morality. Some of my heroines have been considered simply unimportant - like Mary Boleyn or Katherine Howard - and some of them have been stereotyped - like Anne of Cleves and Katherine of Aragon. I don't start with a determination of putting the record straight, but when I read terribly prejudiced misjudgments of women I cannot help but consider what they would really have been like - and writing them back into the history. ~ Philippa Gregory

The Prince shall think you the most beautiful lady he's ever seen."
Alex replied wryly, "Let's hope that's not the case, Eliza. History teaches us that things never end well when royalty set their eyes on 'the most beautiful
lady' they've ever seen. Have a care; if you perform your tasks too well, I could be haunting the Tower of London without a head, alongside Anne Boleyn. ~ Sarah MacLean

Jane would be the next queen and her children, when she had them, would be the next princes or princesses. Or she might wait, as the other queens had waited, every month, desperate to know that she had conceived, knowing each month that it did not happen that Henry's love wore a little thinner, that his patience grew a little shorter. Or Anne's curse of death in childbed, and death to her son, might come true. I did not envy Jane Seymour. I had seen two queens married to King Henry and neither of them had much joy of it. ~ Philippa Gregory

Anne Boleyn was a warrior forced to use the only tools available to a woman in her position at that time. She was bold and ambitious, and had she had a son, history would have been very different. ~ Lydia Leonard

The story was certainly current at court, and in 1535 a Member of Parliament, Sir George Throckmorton, accused Henry to his face of 'meddling' with both Anne's mother and sister Mary.
'Never with the mother,' Henry said. ~ Alison Weir

Why doesn't anyone tell you we all wind up married to Henry the VIII?...
...My dear Anne Boleyn,...the only way a woman can avoid waking up next to Henry is to model herself after his daughter Elizabeth and sleep next to no one at all. ~ Judith Claire Mitchell

If it means something, take it to heart. If it means nothing, it's nothing. Let it go. ~ Philippa Gregory

He is not a man wedded to action, Boleyn, but rather a man who stands by, smirking and stroking his beard; he thinks he looks enigmatic, but instead he looks as if he's pleasuring himself. ~ Hilary Mantel

I had a radio show at the local college and I got kicked off the air and banished forever for playing music from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Alice Cooper, and David Bowie because (quote-unquote) "They were gay." So, things have changed quite a bit. ~ Anne Boleyn

I took piano lessons when I was real little. And you know ... I hated it.
But by the time I was in junior high, I had some kind of knowledge of the keyboards. In my very early years I played keyboards and bass. ~ Anne Boleyn

In my small town, nothing really good happened too often and I thought, 'What am I doing here? I'm wasting my life.' ~ Anne Boleyn

Seduce me. Write letters to me. And poems, I love poems. Ravish me with your words. Seduce me. ~ Anne Boleyn

If it ever lay in my power, I will work the Cardinal as much displeasure as he has done to me. ~ Anne Boleyn

My parents were very old school, as were my grandparents who went through the Great Depression and were a big influence on my life. So for them it was very important for me to have a college education and to pursue a normal job that would give me benefits and things like that.
So they were very, very much opposed to me being a musician. They were all pretty horrified. ~ Anne Boleyn

She's a Boleyn and a Howard,"I said frankly."Underneath the great name, we 're all bitches on heat. ~ Philippa Gregory

Ann Boleyn...a Renaissance Audrey Hepburn in a little black dress. ~ JoAnn Spears

The Light in the Labyrinth is a beautifully written book, a gem. I savoured every word; words written with so much 'colour'. Even though I know the story of Queen Anne Boleyn, Dunn's perspective on her last days is missing in so many other books of the genre. Dunn gives grace to the history and an honest, and very compassionate look at Anne's last days. I cried in the end, shedding tears for the young Kate, Anne and her little Bess. I have not yet read a Tudor book that has moved me to tears, as this wonderful journey does. Dunn's dedication and research shines through in this unforgettable book, a book not just for young readers, but also for all." - Lara Salzano, avid Tudor reader. ~ Wendy J. Dunn

But Anne, do you love him?" I asked curiously.
The curve of her hood hid all but the corner of her smile. "I am a fool to own it, but I am in a fever for his touch. ~ Philippa Gregory

Anne Boleyn isn't a sympathetic character, but I like that she isn't a people pleaser. She's ambitious and manipulative, but she's honest. I'm biased, but I don't think a woman who has said 'no' to the King of England for six years would jump into bed with four of his best friends. She was a slick political mind. ~ Lydia Leonard

The man behind the counter at the donut store had been somewhat less than courteous ever since I had prematurely tried to hypnotize him during my first month of practice. Now as I re-entered the donut store he fixed me with a chilly glare. I sauntered up to the counter, then I threw upon him my hypnotizingest glare. "You are getting sleep," I told him. "No, you are getting sleepy," he retorted, his hypnotic eyes boring into mine. The son-of-a-bitch had been studying hypnotism too! "You are a young Georage Washington, and you've been chopping down the cherry tree," I asserted, and he became the boy President. "I cannot tell a lie," he piped in a childish voice. But it didn't last, and he shook my control free. "You are Anne Boleyn," he said, and it was true! "Don't cut off my head!" I begged... ~ Michael Kupperman

My new world is etched in diamonds and sealed in gold, drowning in pretension. ~ Dawn Ius

She was a kinswoman of the queen, a member of the most powerful family in England. A Boleyn. ~ V.E. Lynne

a royal bride could come to enjoy considerable power and influence, as did both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Yet such status and power emanated solely from her husband. She enjoyed no freedoms but those he permitted her. Without him, she was nothing. Queens ~ Alison Weir

I didn't care whether or not it was acceptable to mainstream society to be in a rock band. This is what I wanted to do. ~ Anne Boleyn

Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die. ~ Anne Boleyn

While the portrait was originally owned by the Howards, as the earls of Arundel, it is unlikely that this family would have retained a portrait of their notorious ancestress for in the wake of her execution, as with Anne Boleyn, they hastily dissociated themselves from Katherine and almost certainly destroyed any images of the queen which they had once owned. ~ Conor Byrne

For I chase but one hind, he says, one strange deer timid and wild, and she leads me off the paths that other men have trod, and by myself into the depths of the wood. ~ Hilary Mantel

When I was 14 and living in London, I'd go around Hampton Court Palace with its marvelous atmosphere, through the gateway where Ann Boleyn walked, the haunted gallery down which Katherine Howard ran. It all set me going. It all started from there. ~ Jean Plaidy

Anne Boleyn is an intriguing character. She seems to appeal to modern-day women in a very potent way. Because she was such an independently opinionated and spirited young woman, which at the time was unheard of. ~ Natalie Dormer

For I am in love. For the first time in my life, utterly and completely, I have fallen in love, and I can not believe it myself. ~ Philippa Gregory

From a private gentlewoman you have made me first a marchioness, then a queen; and, as you can raise me no higher in the world, you are now sending me to be a saint in Heaven. ~ Anne Boleyn

Now the elm chest is carried towards the chapel, where the flags have been lifted so she can go in by the corpse of her brother, George Boleyn. "They shared a bed when they were alive," Brandon says, "so it's fitting they share a tomb. Let's see how they like each other now. ~ Hilary Mantel

Before anything else I was a woman who was capable of passion and who had a great need and a great desire for love. ~ Philippa Gregory

I was a pretty lousy bass player. But the band I was in couldn't find a bass player in our small town and it was more important to have a bass than keyboards, so that's what I did. ~ Anne Boleyn

I am sorry for you. And I am sorry for me. When you are sent back to me, perhaps a month from now, perhaps a year, I will try to remember this day, and you looking like a child, a little lost among all these clothes. I will try to remember that you were innocent of any plotting; that today at least, you were more a girl than a Boleyn. ~ Philippa Gregory

I was born to be your rival,' she [Anne] said simply. 'And you mine. We're sisters, aren't we? ~ Philippa Gregory

In the first play, the crisis is Thomas More. In the second it's Anne Boleyn. In the third book, and the third play, it's crisis every day, an overlapping series of only just negotiable horrors. It's climbing and climbing. Then a sudden abrupt fall - within days. ~ Hilary Mantel

Only during courtship might a woman briefly gain the upper hand, as both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour did, but woe betide her if she did not quickly learn to conform once the wedding-ring was on her finger. The ~ Alison Weir

And then the sword came down like a flash of lightning, and then her head was off her body and the long rivalry between me and the other Boleyn girl was over. ~ Philippa Gregory

What's your family?" he demanded through clenched teeth.
" Boleyn."
" What's your kin?"
"Howard's."
"What's your home?"
"Hever and Rochford."
"What's your kingdom?"
"England."
"Who's your king?"
"Henry."
"Then serve them. In that order. Did I say the Spanish queen once in that list?"
"No."
"Remember it. ~ Philippa Gregory

Famously, Anne Boleyn was not a beauty: she was more about quirkiness and an innate sensuality, and there are a lot of references to her eyes. Which sends out a great message for women, because life is not about the aesthetic all the time. ~ Natalie Dormer

Gina sat with the extremely quiet Tanberk on one side and Rebecca ~ Darcie Boleyn

Katherine of Aragon was a staunch but misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves a good-humoured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Katherine Howard an empty-headed wanton; and Katherine Parr a godly matron who was nevertheless all too human when it came to a handsome rogue. ~ Alison Weir

Her unusual dark hair and sultry eyes made her stand out--- Anne Boleyn was Tudor England's Angelina Jolie amid a sea of Reese Witherspoons. ~ Kris Waldherr

Just a little off the top!"- A. Boleyn ~ Robert Lynn Asprin

Because she is my sister, and therefore one-half of me. ~ Philippa Gregory

People ask me if I think Anne Boleyn was a feminist ... but she wasn't striking out on behalf of women, and she wasn't particularly keen on them. ~ Lydia Leonard

I shall be dark and French and fashionable and difficult. And you shall be sweet and open and English and fair. What a pair we shall be! What man can resist us? ~ Philippa Gregory

A decade of self-aggrandisement, since his daughter flashed her cunny at the king, has made Boleyn rich and settled and confident. ~ Hilary Mantel

Going out on the road as a 14- or 15-year old and playing clubs with 20-year old guys was just not acceptable. ~ Anne Boleyn

He raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get this? Is our Anne Boleyn suddenly from Mars?" He chuckled. "I always thought she hailed from Wiltshire."
Luce's mind raced to catch up. She was playing Anne Boleyn? She'd never read this play, but Daniel's costume suggested he was playing the king, Henry VIII.
"Mr. Shakespeare-ah,Will-thought it would look good-"
"Oh,Will did?" Daniel smirked, bot believing her at all but seeming not to care. It was strange to feel that she could do or say almost anything and Daniel would still find it charming. "You're a little bit mad, aren't you, Lucinda?"
"I-well-"
He brushed her cheek with the back of his finger. "I adore you."
"I adore you,too." The words tumbled from her mouth,feeling so real and so true after the last few stammering lies. It was like letting out a long-held breath. "I've been thinking, thinking a lot,and I wanted to tell you that-that-"
"Yes?"
"The truth is that what I feel for you is...deeper than adoration." She pressed her hands over his heart. "I trust you. I trust your love. I know how strong it is,and how beautiful." Luce knew that she couldn't come right out and say what she really meant-she was supposed to be a different version of herself,and the other times,when Daniel had figured out who she was, where she'd come from,he'd clammed up immediately and told her to leave. But maybe if she chose her words carefully, Daniel would understand. "It may seem like sometimes I-I forgot wha ~ Lauren Kate

grudge who grudge ~ Anne Boleyn

He turns to the painting. "I fear Mark was right."
"Who is Mark?"
"A silly little boy who runs after George Boleyn. I once heard him say I looked like a murderer."
Gregory says, "Did you not know? ~ Hilary Mantel

Remember me when you do pray that hope doth lead from day to day. ~ Anne Boleyn

For a fair maid of England hath told me
That the crows are departed the Tower.
So I'll seek for my bailiwick elsewhere,
Sniffing out some new dungheap of power. ~ Paul Christensen